Adding a Rule That Includes or Excludes Content

You can add a rule to include specific paths in the content index, to exclude specific paths from the index, to specify how Microsoft SharePoint lists are handled, or to provide a specific account to access a specific path. For more information about rules that include or exclude content, see About Rules That Include or Exclude Content.

Add a rule that includes or excludes content

1. On the Site Settings page, in the Manage Search Settings and Indexed Content section, click Configure search and indexing.
2. On the Configure search and indexing page, in the General Content Settings and Indexing Status section, click Exclude and Include Content.
3. On the Exclude and Include Content page, click Add Rule.
4. On the Add Rule page, in the Path box, type a path for the content affected by this rule. You can use general expressions and wildcard characters to define which resources are subject to this update rule. For example:
   • "http://server1/folder*" contains all Web resources with a URL that starts with "http://server1/folder"
   • "http://gw?web*" contains resources such as "http://gwaweb2/file.htm" and "http://gwbweb3/file.htm "
   • "*.doc" contains every Word document encountered
5. In the Crawl Configuration section, do one of the following:
   • To exclude all documents in this URL space, click Exclude all items in this path.

     If you select this option, when the search component encounters a resource within this space, it will neither crawl the resource nor follow links contained within the resource.

   • To include all documents in this URL space, click Include all items in this path.

     If you select this option, you can also do the following:

     • To suppress the inclusion in the index of items in this path but allow content to be crawled to find linked content that can be included in the index, select the Suppress inclusion in the content index check box.
     • To follow complex links (URLs that include question marks (?) followed by parameters), select the Follow complex links check box.

       Following complex links includes additional content in the content index.

6. If the path contains SharePoint lists, in the Crawl Configuration section, optionally do the following:
   • To allow alerts on individual SharePoint list items, click Allow alerts on individual SharePoint list items.

     By default, SharePoint lists are crawled as one item. If you do not click Allow alerts on individual SharePoint list items, alerts for the list will be sent if any item in the list is changed.

   • To crawl each SharePoint list item individually, click Index SharePoint list items individually.
7. In the Specify Authentication section, do one of the following:
   • To use the default content access account, click Use default crawling account to log in.
   • If the default crawling account cannot access this path, click Specify crawling account and then do the following:
     1. In the Account box, type the user name or ID that can access the resources in this URL space. Examples are user_name, user_name@org, or DOMAIN\user_name.
     2. In the Password box, type the password for this user name.

        Your password is protected and can be used only to access the needed resources for the purpose of crawling content.

     3. In the Confirm password box, type the password for this user name again.
     4. To prevent Basic authentication from being used, select the Prohibit the server from passing plain text passwords check box.

        The server will attempt to use NTLM authentication. If NTLM authentication fails, the server will attempt to use Basic authentication unless the Prohibit the server from passing plain text passwords check box is selected. If the check box is selected, the server will attempt to use NTLM authentication only.

   • To use a client certificate for authentication, click Specify client certificate, and then select a certificate from the list.

     For more information about using client certificates, see Using Client Certificates When Crawling Content.

8. Click OK.